Swans – “A Little God In My Hands”

The monstrous, long-running New York postpunk band Swans tore a hole in the universe with their last album, 2012′s monolithic and unrelenting The Seer, and they intend to follow it up this spring with their new album To Be Kind. “A Little God In My Hands,” the first of the album’s tracks that the band has shared, has the elemental power of their last two albums, but it also has a hint of an off-kilter art-pop sensibility; if you didn’t already know St. Vincent was a guest on the album, you might guess it from the squirmy horns and just-off rhythm. The band has also shared the six different covers for the album — a series of paintings of babies’ faces from the artist Bob Biggs, who owned both Slash magazine and Slash Records. Below, download the seven-minute “A Little God In My Hands” and check out the other five covers and some words on the cover art from Swans frontman Michael Gira.